The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus and a toner case installed to the image forming apparatus.
An electrographic image forming apparatus carries out the development process by supplying a toner (a developer) from a development device to an electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of a photosensitive drum or the like. The toner used in such development process is supplied from a toner case configured to be attachable and detachable to an apparatus main body of the image forming apparatus.
The above-mentioned toner case includes a case main body having a discharge port discharging the toner and a shutter opening/closing the discharge port. For example, there is a toner case having a shutter rotatably installed to the case main body and opening/closing the discharge port in accordance with the rotation. In such a technique, a locking member attached to the toner case locks the shutter in a closing state, thereby preventing the toner from leaking from the toner case during transport of the toner case.
The above-mentioned technique is provided presupposing the transport of single toner case. In this case, the toner case is separately packed from the apparatus main body, and accordingly, the capacity and number of the packaging material are unnecessarily increased, thereby incurring an increase of a shipping cost.
Moreover, in the imaging forming apparatus including the tone case configured as mentioned above, there is a case that the toner case is installed, in a situation of the shutter closing the discharge port, to the apparatus main body and a cover to cover the toner case is closed by operation mistake of a worker, such as a user. In such a case, it is difficult to supply the toner from the toner case to the development device.